Residents: Police burn down our homes, threaten to shoot us

Stanley Ihedigbo

Residents of Ijora-Badia area of Lagos State on Friday accused the police of burning down their homes and then threatened to shoot them.

This was even as one of the residents, Iya Nla, disclosed that the policemen almost burnt her two children, who were sleeping.

Iya Nla said: “I would have lost my two kids to the fire. My children were asleep when the policemen put fire on the place. Some people, who noticed that my children were not with me, ran to where they were sleeping to move them. If not, my children would have been dead by now. The policemen came very early in the morning to set the place on fire.”

The woman further said: “The police have been coming every day to arrest our youths. I have taken my two grown up children to our village in Kwara State. I’m still looking for money to get house and leave this place. This Ijora Badia has become hell on earth. We can no longer sleep with our two eyes close.”

Residents said that since December last year, that police came to destroy their houses, the police had been arbitrarily arresting youths in the community.

One of them stated: “We don’t have any place to go. Government has failed to provide alternative place for us to live. Since destruction of our homes by the police, we have been sleeping in the air with our children.

The residents claimed that the operation was led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Mr. Odutola, in charge of Ijora-Badia Police Station.

 “DPO Odutola led his team to burn down our houses. The DPO has been threatening to burn down the place for long if he found out that we were still sleeping there,” said one of the residents.

He added: “The DPO and his men have refused to allow us to rest. They come every day to arrest and destroy things. We even made makeshift places for our children to sleep after they destroyed our homes, but they still came and destroy those.”

Another resident, Biliki said: “Police or whoever sent them should leave our land alone. A peaceful community has now turned to hell for us. We have nowhere to go. My mother had two buildings in this community and both had been pulled down. They said the destruction was ordered by the Lagos State government. And sadly, government refused to provide alternative place for us to live.”

Mr. Emma said that he had been running from pillar to post, trying to raise money to relocate his family.

He said: “I lost all I had last year December when the Lagos State Task Force came to destroy our houses. They even arrested me. I just manage to set up nylon for my four kids to sleep under. I’m tired of this place. I’m very serious about leaving this place. We’re tired of police harassment and threats.”